First of all, I’m so excited to be spending several weeks this summer in France, my favorite country in the world! As a French teacher, there are so many parts of France that I’ve learned about or even taught that I have never seen but have wanted to for years. And then timing worked out that my friends Lindsey and Jed were also going to be traveling to France so we came up with our wishlist of what to see (though we aren’t able to see it all of course). The first leg of our trip had us visiting Dijon and Beaune, in the Bourgogne region of France.
Arrival and a quick detour
Jed and I flew into Paris and arrived at 6am. Rented the car and hit the road, but came across really bad rush hour traffic. Took us over two hours but we arrived to our pit stop destination- the Atelier des Lumières to see the Le Petit Prince lamination show. And my gosh- it was lovely!
Le Parcours de la Chouette
We drove to Dijon and met up with Lindsey and did some exploring by foot. My former student Emily gave me some suggestions from when she studied/lived her, and the top one was to do the Parcours de la Chouette, or Owl Trail in English. This self-guided walking route winds through the historic heart of the city. It was a great way to get familiar with the city and to see all the big must-see spots. From Gothic churches and medieval streets to Renaissance mansions and bustling squares, the trail led us to them all. The trail is marked by bronze owl plaques embedded in the pavement and covers 22 stops over about 3 kilometers. Every major stop has a big numbered owl plaque, but there are thousands of little triangle owls that lead the way.
You don’t go more than a few feet before you see another, ensuring you know you’re on the right track. I downloaded the Parcours de la Chouette app (a $4 purchase) or you can buy a guide at the Office de Tourisme. The trail just took us a few hours and was a great way to explore. Here are the highlights:
Jardin Darcy
Jardin Darcy is a beautiful 19th-century French-style garden and the official starting point of Dijon’s Parcours de la Chouette. Built above the city’s first modern water reservoir, it was named after engineer Henry Darcy, a pioneer in hydraulic science. The park features formal terraces, fountains, manicured flowerbeds, and elegant stairways. It offers a peaceful green space right at the edge of the historic city center.
A highlight of the garden is the striking sculpture “L’Ours Blanc” (The White Bear) by local artist François Pompon, which has become a popular photo spot.
Porte Guillaume
Porte Guillaume is a neoclassical triumphal arch and the second stop on Dijon’s Parcours de la Chouette. Built in 1788 to replace an original medieval city gate, it marks the historic entrance to Dijon’s old town.
La Poste
The Post Office at Place Grangier. Built in the early 20th century, this impressive building reflects the Beaux-Arts style, with its elegant façade and detailed stonework. In front of the Dijon Post Office at Place Grangier stands the contemporary sculpture Le Compteur du Temps by Gloria Friedmann. The artwork features a large metallic globe with clocks showing times from around the world, topped by a figure holding a timepiece indicating Dijon’s local time. It symbolizes global interconnectedness and the passage of time.
Les Halles
Les Halles in Dijon is a beautiful 19th-century iron-and-glass market hall designed by Gustave Eiffel’s firm. It is open Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday mornings, offering a vibrant array of fresh regional produce, cheeses, seafood, and baked goods.
Place François Rude
Place François-Rude, also known as Place du Bareuzai, is a picturesque pedestrian square in the heart of Dijon. Established in 1904, it honors the local sculptor François Rude, who was born nearby. Rude was a sculptor best known for his masterpiece “La Marseillaise” (also called The Departure of the Volunteers) on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. The square is renowned for the Fontaine du Bareuzai. This bronze statue is of a vintner treading grapes and symbolizes Burgundy’s winemaking heritage. Surrounded by charming half-timbered houses and lively cafés, Place François-Rude is an adorable square to check out when in Dijon. The day we were there there was a market and carrousel also in the square.
Notre Dame de Dijon
Notre Dame de Dijon is a 13th century Gothic church with a very unique facade, with lots of gargoyles looking down on tourists below. There is also a Jacquemart clock that chimes with animated figures on the hour. Most notable is THE original owl that started it all. It’s been around since the 15th century and is pretty weathered. Legend says if you touch it with your left hand as you pass you will have good luck.
Palais des Ducs
Palais des Ducs et des Etats de Bourgogne (palace of dukes and estates of burgundy) was a palatial residence of dukes in the 15th century. However it is now the site of city hall as well as the Musée des Beaux Arts (fine arts museum). Since it is open until 18:30 and is FREE to enter we went in with 20 minutes to spare before closing and ran around to see as much as we could. It had a pretty good collection, including some of my favorite- French Impressionism including Monet and sculptures by Rodin.
Also on site is the Tour Philippe le Bon. This tour is 46m (about 150 feet) and symbolizes the powers of the Dukes. It was built from 1450-1460 and today people can ascend the tower to get a view of the city.
Other great sites in Dijon
Rue des Forges is a street with medieval and Renaissance houses. Maison Millière is a half-timbered house from the 15th century that was featured in the movie Cyrano de Bergerac of 1990 starring Gerard Depardieu. There were lots of half-timbered houses around Dijon and it was so cute.
Also on the tour was Hotel de Vogüé, a stunning 17th century Renaissance mansion featuring rose marble.
La moutarde de Dijon
We also visited the Maillot Moutarde shop, because when you’re in Dijon you must eat mustard right? And it wasn’t just normal Dijon mustard, they had a variety of flavors. My personal favorite was the Parmesan basil. You can sample the mustards and there are a variety of sizes that you can take home, as well as other dips and sauces.
Speaking of food- did you know that Dijon and the Bourgogne region is known for its cuisine? Boeuf Bourgignon, escargots, and of course lots of cheese, bread, pastries. We started digging in on our first stop in France. We tried another specialty of Dijon- Nonnette, which is basically gingerbread in small donut forms with fillings of all types- like the fig flavor we opted for.
Wine tour from Beaune
And on the topic of French specialties- we can’t forget about wine!! After visiting Dijon, on our second day in the Bourgogne region of France after we traveled to Beaune to do a biking wine tour. There are all sorts of tours available in the area, including week-long bike tours to day trips. We opted for a 3 hour bike trip. We met our guide, Corinne, and were excited to find that we were the only bikers for our trip, which meant she could give us the tour in French! So we hopped on our bikes and rode through the roads that wind around the vineyards. I was surprised by how vineyards there were in our area- Corinne told us we probably biked past one to two hundred different vineyards.
We made some stops for her to teach us some things about the different wines of the area, as well as how they are grown and classified. We were surprised to learn that Bourgogne produces more white wine that red! We made a stop in the town Pommard where Corinne had us try our first regional wine- Aligote. I had never had this wine before, and it may be known as a lower budget wine in the area but it was pretty tasty. After that we continued on a ride, going through another town before heading to a winery for a tour.
Domaine Lejeune
The winery is Domaine Lejeune, and though that means “the young” in French, it has been around since 1793!. Even the building we toured has been around for over 1000 years!
We got to see all the areas of production, including the old wine press and the oldest wine fermentation vat in the region. Then it was down to the lower level where the bottles and barrels are stored and we got to taste 6 different wines.
It was a wonderful ride and a great afternoon! I highly recommend Bourgogne Evasion for your bike tour and ask for Corinne.
Hôtel-Dieu
Back in the town of Beaune, the Hôtel-Dieu is one of France’s most remarkable historical landmarks. Founded in 1443 by Nicolas Rolin, Chancellor to the Duke of Burgundy, and his wife Guigone de Salins, this former hospital was built to care for the poor and sick after the Hundred Years’ War left much of the region devastated. It is known for it striking Gothic architecture- especially the colorful, glazed tile roof.
When visiting the Hôtel-Dieu, which is now a museum, guests step into an immaculately preserved example of 15th-century hospital life. The highlight is the Grande Salle des Pôvres, or “Great Hall of the Poor”- a vast, vaulted ward lined with rows of wooden beds. Each bed equipped with red curtains for privacy which nurses, who could walk the rows from the side with the wall, would pull when aiding their patients. The ceilings were brightly painted and has images of animals so the patients could feel a sense of joy and imagination from their beds.
The adjoining chapel, integrated into the ward, allowed bedridden patients to attend mass from their beds. Throughout the museum, visitors can explore original furnishings, patient care tools, and exhibits that chronicle the medical treatments used over the centuries.
Another must-see is the pharmacy, stocked with ancient glass vials, ceramic pots, and herbal remedies that were once used by the hospital’s nuns. The museum layout guides visitors through themed rooms covering charity, medieval medicine, and the daily lives of both caregivers and patients.
The Hôtel-Dieu museum in Beaune is open daily year-round, with extended hours from April to mid-November, and admission ranges from €5 to €12, with free audioguides provided for visitors to learn about the museum in the language of their choice.
Château Savigny-lès-Beaune
While in the area we also stopped at Chateau Savigny-lès-Beaune. While we weren’t able to see the inside of the chateau because the last entry is at 5, we were able to grab a drink, because their winery and taproom is open until 630.
And that allowed us to walk the grounds and see the reason why I wanted to visit- the huge collection of abandoned planes and ambulances on the grounds. It was an airplane graveyard and we had a great time walking around looking at them. Inside the castle there are more antique cars and motorcycles.
Hope you enjoyed reading about visiting Dijon and Beaune, France. It was a great start to our ‘Tour de France’. Check out my blog post about the second leg- visiting Annecy & Chamonix. À bientôt!
-Catching Katie
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